Courtney Federico
Senior Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress

One of Courtney Federico's big take-aways from WeLead was learning how to set professional goals. Prior to her involvement in WeLead, Federico thought she knew how to set goals for herself. “But as I sat in the session trying to brainstorm personal and professional goals, I realized that I hadn’t set any concrete, achievable goals for myself in a long time. That day, I drafted a list of goals and found another WeLeader to be my accountability partner. Together, we talked through each of my goals and how I was going to achieve them.”

Her advice to future WeLead classes is to “Take advantage of every opportunity. WeLead is only what you make of it — talk to all of the speakers, meet everyone in your cohort, collect business cards and conduct coffee meetings. You worked hard and are fortunate enough to have this experience, so be thoughtful and strategic about what you want to gain from it, and get after it!”

Federico joined Center for American Progress after graduate school. Before graduate school, she worked on the Kamala Harris for the People campaign. Before that, she worked as Program Manager for EMILY's List’s independent expenditure operation, WOMEN VOTE! In this role, she oversaw independent expenditures in support of EMILY's List endorsed candidates. She previously served as the Assistant to the Executive Director at Emily's List.

Prior to joining EMILY's List, Federico was the Outreach Manager at the Combined Defense Project, an environmental coalition campaign created after the 2016 election, and worked for the Democratic National Committee, first as the Special Assistant to the CEO and then as the Deputy Director of the Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection (PADS). As the Deputy Director of PADS, Federico helped manage the delegate selection process for the National Democratic Party and the party business conducted at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Federico also worked as a field organizer on President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in 2012.

Federico earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Boston University, with a focus on the environment and sustainability.